"luv is a verb"

If there’s at least one thing to know about the Philippines, it’s that it’s an incredibly social culture. People run on “Filipino time”, perpetually late. Perhaps it’s because times and schedules aren’t priority. Forming relationships and talking to one another is. Cell phones are all the rage here, more so than back home. Hang outs, dating, even church announcements, are all part of what is commonly referred to as “text-text”. (Though be careful who to say “text-text” to, as it can mean let’s hook up via text messages – i.e. sexting) You can see this phenomenon everywhere – friends meeting each other after school at the mall, church mates in fellowship with one another, street kids playing together, jeepney drivers high fiveing each other along the way…

There’s something undeniably intriguing about this that has greatly blessed Rebecca and I. The people we’ve met in only the first week we have been here have really amazed us. From meeting Rosalyn and getting to know some of her family, (BTW, I just got a text from her saying her grandson Vince is doing okay!!) to the people we’ve just recently met.

This past weekend, we were able to spend time at my old home church Greenhills Christian Fellowship in Ortigas. This is the church I attended until we moved to Canada when I was six. The youth program at this church has always impressed me. The youth is comprised of anyone from high school (for Canada, that would include middle school as well) to the college-aged. In a group with such a gigantic age gap, cliques barely exist. College kids hang out with 13-year-olds kids without even thinking twice about it. And we definitely felt the love as we made it out to the youth worship night this past Saturday and the service on Sunday. As I got to meet up with old friends from years past, we really had so much fun just hanging out with each other. I’m sure Rebecca can attest to how welcomed she felt as well. They have adopted us, inviting us out to hangouts, and even connecting us with other organizations. It was so cool being able to relate to other youth here about missions – it was like an instant connection. How neat it is that something as simple as loving others can be common ground for people from two very different places.

We continued to feel the love when we visited Grace Christian Community School –
a non-profit private school located in Pasay City. If you watched our latest video, you saw that we were able to hang out with some of the kids there on their first week of school, and to buy them some supplies for their playroom and reading books for a few classes. As cool as all of that was, what really stuck out to me was the community of teachers and staff. I had learned about this school on a different trip and had spent only a few short days with them, but coming back to this school was like coming back to anw.
I was greeted with “LOOK WHO’S BACK?!” and hugs galore. Likewise, they welcomed Rebecca with open arms.

Because it’s the first week of school, school days are only until noon. So for the first day, we spent most of our time hanging out with teachers. If I could explain to you the love that I sensed within this group of teachers, I’m not sure I could even come close. But just know that it is a community who laughs with one another and supports each other. This love is so huge that it spills over to the students. It was just so neat how evident this was. Even as we interviewed them for the video, you could just feel it. The way they spoke of their students and the deep-rooted commitment they have to give them everything they need with what they have.

Speaking of the love we’ve been feeling here, may I take this time to tell you (yes, you!) that although we may be far away, we also feel the love you have been sending us too! I know we’ve said this before, but every message, note, comment, view, or hit we get is an incredible amount of encouragement. I think love gives us hope despite the disparity, poverty, and hardship we’ve seen thus far. We believe, “God is love” and if that is the ultimate truth, then what can hinder us if we’re armed with God, armed with true love.

And we take all that to heart. We’ll continue to take that with us as God leads us into another week here. We are so excited about the opportunities in front of us – possibly counseling at a street kids camp, speaking at a college campus (of about 10,000 ahhhh), visiting the white house of the Philippines, working with World Vision, and whatever else God decides to throw at us.

Until then, spread the love! It makes a world of difference, I promise.